My Vision

Recently, I went on a cruise with my husband for his job. Someone at work said "how can YOU go on a cruise; what can you eat?" To make the offensive conversation end quickly, I politely smiled and replied, "it's not easy." The truth is it's easy to find healthy options. It's harder not to eat everything else. For breakfast each morning we opted for the dining room. Over the course of the week I had either (1) eggs benedict with salmon (no sauce) on an english muffin, (2) an egg white veggie omelet with salsa, avocado and side of fruit, (3) turkey sausage, poached eggs and avocado spread on rye toast. I told them no butter or cheese on anything and really didn't need it with salsa, avocado and the egg yolk. I skipped the bakery basket altogether, opting for fruit. My husband had a bite of each pastry and 4 of 5 were gross.For lunch, I made salad with oil and vinegar at the buffet then walked over to the deli and asked for plain turkey. The chef said "you don't want bread?!?!" You would think I asked her for a sneaker on my salad but after the first day, she got the hang of this crazy concept.For dinner, they showed me the menu every night for the next day so they had time to adjust anything I wanted. So while I could have easily had grilled fish or chicken with steamed vegetables every night, they found ways to make crab cakes, mango soup and even a dessert one night that worked with my needs. We had a fruit basket in our room. One night when I really wanted to indulge with the group at the 24 hour pizzeria, I asked for a veggie slice without cheese and they happily made it. While it wasn't the easiest process, I had no allergic reactions, stellar blood sugars and didn't gain weight...unheard of on cruises. And while others ate like it was the last day of the world, they frequently commented "that wasn't that good." So I leave you with this thought...you can make healthy choices anywhere - the real question is will you!

This is so true Leo. Most restaurants will accommodate allergies if told in advance and even on the spot. Many can customize dishes to be healthier. It's not like you're asking them to add ingredients but rather hold things off.

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J

6/8/2014 01:00:12 pm

Was introduced to your blog by the lovely Jacqueline...

So glad you have a good cruise experience. I just wanted to chime in with my own positive cruise experience. I think cruising was easier than many restaurants that we have tried to eat at!

We went on a cruise when my very food allergic/food reactive middle child was 19 months old and it was amazing! While it was a very stressful process leading up-I had to get permission to bring her food on board and keep it in our room fridge which was a tricky process-it was easy & smooth on board. First thing I met with a maitre d that gave me his personal ship phone to call anytime day or night and request anything we wanted. He sat down with us for close to an hour-during the super crazy boarding period!, painstakingly going over everything she could not have and where we might encounter cross contamination. He said to give him 30 minutes lead time and tell him what I wanted and where I wanted it and we'd have it. They were THAT good and taking care of a 19-month old! They would cook anything I asked that they had on board and would microwave anything I brought to them (safe "pancakes", a quinoa dish that I made that was safe & she loved) so she could eat dinner with us, versus us heating it in the room and feeding her separate.

I would definitely consider a cruise again and not be daunted by food restrictions.

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Not Allergic to Healthy

6/8/2014 09:53:18 pm

Thank you for checking my website out (thanks to Jacqueline).

I'm glad you had such a great experience on a cruise as well. I didn't do anything in advance of the cruise and they were still so accommodating. So by making that preparation in advance, it sounds like it was even better!